| | the first time i sang a negro spiritual was in 8th grade. it was called 'elijah rock'.
i still remember it, "elijah rock, shout shout! elijah rock comin' up Lord"
i had never sang music like that before. but i really liked it. even though i was only 13 years old at the time, i could see why they called them "spiritual". it was so different from the sacred music i had sang before. i had sang in choirs since the fourth grade. back in those days, i sang all the time. i was in a boy choir too. i barely got in from the audition, but i worked hard. i remember singing 'america the beautiful' over and over again. that was the audition song and you had to sing it a capella too. the song seemed so long when i was nine, but i can only imagine how many dozens of times my parents had to endure it now.
i learned to carry a tune, hold my part, i learned to breathe and sight-sing there. and mr. rodgers was a stickler. in boy choir, you could get demerits for not sitting with the right posture, and although i would purposely try to break rules all day in school, i would play it pretty straight in boy choir. for some reason, i didn't want to disappoint him. maybe it was because i knew i barely made it in, maybe it was because i never was seen as an asset to my cub scout troop, my soccer team, and the art class, but i made it in. i could sing if i tried. i could hold my part if i tried. i could memorize the songs if i tried.
by the time my family moved to florida...i could sing. and whereas, in tulsa, i don't remember having my black kids in my class. i remember one, a girl by the name of fatima. but in florida, things were different. by the time i made it to eighth grade, the school i went to was over half black. i was the only non-white guy in chorus. i remember feeling really intimidated. sometimes they didn't know how to treat me either. sometimes they made fun of me, but when we got to sing, everything was good. i could sing my part. but these songs, negro spirituals, were different. sometimes it was so hard to get everyone settled and focused in on singing a piece well, but there were moments when everything, everyone was on. like a laserbeam. and those spirituals would really become, spiritual.
now, i can't sing like that at all.
there are times when in my reading and study of God's word is wonderful, when my prayers are OK, i guess. but i want to feel spiritual like that again. spiritual as in "negro spiritual". i don't think it takes a lot of reading or meditating. i think it takes a lot of singing. or perhaps, at least for me to hold my part. and focus.
elijah rock shout shout. elijah rock comin' up lord.
|
| | Posted 4/24/2006 10:47 PM - 47 Views - 4 eProps - 2 comments
- recommend
  - recs0
- share
- email
 - sent0
|
